Time to rise up off our ample posteriors and get aerodynamic (Our view)

View full sizeMobile residents are among the fattest of the fattest of the fattest.File photo

Another
national survey has been published berating the girth of Mobile's population. Sigh.
This time, the website 24/7 Wall Street reports the Port City weighing in with
a 33.7 percent obesity rate, fourth highest among metropolitan areas in the U.S.

Mobilians
have had a bellyful of such surveys over the years, so much so that we've grown
(have we ever) to accept our status: The
Portly City.

While
our ranking might vary by a tubby town or two, we know in our belabored hearts
that the studies are mostly on the mark. Our bottoms always make the top ten.

In
an unscientific poll we published at al.com Sunday, more than two-thirds of respondents
acknowledge that we've got a serious problem. More than two-thirds conceded we
need more exercise. But did anyone show up at the gym on Monday?

Good
that we're not in denial. Bad that we're so resigned to our gelatinous fate. Pass
the chips.

Yet
this is exactly the time in our city's history to NOT be so resigned. Much has
been written and much has been orated o'er these last few ground-breaking weeks:
We are redefining ourselves as a global aerospace industrial hub. We fought
fiercely for a decade to bring to Mobile a company that has prospered in the
world marketplace, beating out gargantuan corporations like Boeing and McDonald
Douglas, by being nimble and quick -- a company that is owned and operated by
the skinny little people of Europe. You know, the ones with the much longer
life spans and lower healthcare costs.

It's
time for us to lose our inner jumbo. It's time to trade in our wide bodies for
the sleeker, newer A320 single-aisle jobs that Airbus is selling like hotcakes,
that Airbus is going to assemble right here in... The Aerospace City.

C'mon,
Mobile, let's get aerodynamic.

And
it so happens that we have the perfect batch of fitness trainers, nutritionists
and healthcare providers waiting in the wings to help. Mobile United/Leadership
Mobile is spearheading an effort to get our community healthier -- called Live
Better Mobile -- rolled out without much fanfare a couple of weeks ago.

If
you take a look at their website, you will quickly learn that reducing obesity
is not just an exercise-more/eat-less proposition. It has to do with the kind
of foods that many of us choose to eat. And it has to do with the kind of foods
many of us have no choice but to eat, because we can't afford healthier options.
Never mind liposuction, apples and carrots are out of the financial reach of
many Mobilians.

Involved
in the Mobile United/Leadership Mobile effort is a veritable who's who of
political, civic, and health organizations, from the Franklin Clinic and
Victory Health Partners, to the University of South Alabama and Mobile Botanical
Gardens -- over 20 groups in all.

Though
they have agreed to come together to do something big, so far the website is
mostly it. But stay tuned...

And
by the way, obesity is not just our
problem. It bedevils all of Alabama the Beautiful, whose wiggle became a waddle
a long time ago. While our state is among the most overweight in the United
States, the U.S. is easily the most obese nation on Earth.

That
puts us among the fattest of the fattest of the fattest.

It
would be funny if it weren't fatal.

And
fixable.

This editorial was
written by Mike Marshall, director of statewide commentary, for the
al.com/Press-Register editorial board.

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